“Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events” Review
Hello to all of you lovelies! This week, I have just finished (I know it took me a while) the Netflix revival of “Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events.” As a child, I was a huge fan of the book series, written by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler). It empowered children to read, invent, create and to us their imaginations. Each new novel set up a “series of unfortunate events” (pun intended), which the three Baudelaire children—Violet, Klaus and Sunny, would have to navigate through, all while escaping, alluding and out-smarting the evil, Count Olaf.
But I think I am getting ahead of myself.
Both the novels and the new Netflix series, begin with the loss of the Baudelaire children’s parents, due to a mysterious fire. After this tragic event, the three Baudelaire children are forced to live with Count Olaf, for a period of time. Count Olaf is a villainess cretin, who is willing to go to any means in order to obtain the Baudelaire children’s family fortune.
Even though, the Baudelaire’s’ guardians all end up dead, in an effort to protect the children. Due to Count Olaf’s ability to disguise himself, find the children and with the help of his many (evil and foolish) accomplices, he continues to try and steal the fortune, commit arson, murder and numerous other crimes. However, because of the children’s innate intelligence they are able to out-smart Count Olaf at every turn.
It’s been awhile since I’ve read the books, but I will say the series adaptation was true to the source material. Now, this is not a comparison to the 2004 film, but instead a commentary on bringing the novels to life. Both film translations featured great character performances by some cherished actors, and both attempted to achieve the books’ singular tone. Personally, however I believe the Netflix series did a better job at achieving this tone. For many reasons, but most importantly, the Netflix series had the ability to stretch out the story-lines. Compared the movie, which was forced to condense the plot. I also really enjoyed the physical representation of Lemony Snicket, played by Patrick Warburton.
Snicket’s physical presence helped move the storyline along, and hearing his warnings and explanations was much like the narration during the books. Warburton’s deadpan performance was spot-on.
And we cannot talk about performances without discussing Neil Patrick Harris’ role as Count Olaf. He did a truly wonderful job, portraying this villain. His ability to be comical and yet, evil was extremely entertaining. Harris was one of my favorite parts of the series, he walked the very narrow line between being creepy and funny, there were definitely cringe-worthy moments (the wedding scene), but they were all followed by hilarious moments—Count Olaf dancing to “Hava Nagila.”
In addition to Harris, I really loved Alfre Woodard as Aunt Josephine. She was absurdly funny. The moment when she was screaming on the sailboat, during the leech attack was so funny I had tears in my eyes. Especially, the part when Aunt Josephine and Violet were arguing about the scarf.
And as funny as Aunt Josephine was, Uncle Monty was equally heart-breakingly sweet. Aasif Mandvi’s, portrayal of Uncle Monty was exactly how I imagined it from the book. He was quirky, goofy, smart and generous. And he truly loved the Baudelaire children.
The moment Violet, Klaus and Sunny found Uncle Monty dead, was incredibly sad.
But the three most important characters were the Baudelaire children, played by Malina Weissman (Violet), Louis Hynes (Klaus) and Presley Smith (Sunny). These young actors did a great job interacting with each other, the adult actors and the scenery. Each episode placed them in a different “location” and with a different “guardian” and the Baudelaire children were able to adapt. These young actors are a talent group.
The only two comments that I would like to say, 1.) I wish Will Arnett and Cobie Smulders (aka Father and Mother) were showed more. Their roles are extremely important to the story. Though, I can understand the writers and creators wanting to build that suspense within the story. And 2.) I wish the series was more than 8 episodes. But I am really looking forward to the second season. The first season was only able to cover the first four books of the series, so hopefully the second season will be able to feature the next several books. Fingers crossed they don’t leave us hanging, and all thirteen books are able to make it to screen.
What do you think? Have you had a chance to watch, “Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events," yet? If so, what do you think? Who was your favorite character? Are there any characters you want to see more of in the second season? Let me know, I'd love to hear your thoughts! For now, I say good night and hope that my random ramblings have peeked your inner bookworm.
~BL
